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We are very pleased to announce the Garaventa Lift Project of the Month for September, 2016 – the X3 Inclined Platform Lift installation at the famous Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. After a $125 million, nine-year renovation, the hotel reopened recently.

“No need to break in,” its room key cards read—a nod to the infamous scandal of the Nixon administration that led to the president’s resignation. Originally designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti in 1961 to look like a sail on the Potomac, the hotel has been vacant since 2007. Its current owners tapped Israeli designer Ron Arad and Italian designer Moroso to update the architecture and restore some of hotel’s original structures, like the staircase and indoor pool. Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant designed the employee uniforms.

Thank you to Will Cromwell of Bedco Mobility in Baltimore for submitting the photos. The installation itself was more involved than what it might look like from the photos. The wall, you see, has a marble facade which will not bear any load. So the lift is actually attached to steel support posts behind the marble. The result is a clean-looking example of a custom-colored X3 Inclined Platform Lift installed at a pretty cool hotel. As proof of it’s coolness, the walls of the lobby bar are made from actual whisky bottles – nice.

One of the coolest places to have a Garaventa Lift installed is the Oue Skyspace Skyslide. In fact, The Oue Skyspace slide has been named one of the 16 coolest things to do in Los Angeles by Forbes Magazine. It is a glass-enclosed slide which goes from the 70th floor to the 69th floor on the outside of the U.S. Bank Building in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The slide is fully accessible because of a beautiful custom colored Genesis Enclosure unit installed right beside the slide entrance.

Congratulations to Randy Weiler, Chuck Vander Hill and the rest of the team at McKinley Elevator. This installation has been named the Garaventa Lift Project of the Month for August, 2016.

Congratulations to Mike Doyle and the rest of the folks at Garaventa USA in New England. Their care and dedication has allowed a Boston woman to regain some of her freedom and independence. This installation occurred in spite of several obstacles, including a very tight time line. That is why this project has been named the Garaventa Lift Project of the Month for July, 2016.

Because the lower landing of the lift is a public sidewalk, and because we needed to attach the lift to the brickwork, three variances were required from the State of Massachusetts. Often, this kind of red tape can delay a project for weeks, months or indefinitely. However, Susan Kron, the lift user and a woman who has been diagnosed with terminal ALS, had Mike Doyle of Garaventa Lift in her corner.

Mr. Doyle is a long-time professional sales representative with Garaventa USA in New England. He worked diligently with the State to present the case for the variances. He worked with the factory in Surrey to accelerate the manufacturing process.

In his words, the lift, “allows Mrs Kron in her remaining days to get out of the house, to the doctor or simply to smell the flowers. As everyone on this end knows I became e a little bit attached to the project and specifically the cause as it and she became near and dear to my heart…I like to think this is what we are all about, helping those in need.”

For her part, Susan appreciates the effort. In a message to Mike after the lift installation was completed, she wrote, “Dear Mike, I wanted to let you know that the lift is fantastic. Thank you so much for all you did to usher us through the maze of regulations and rules. Being able to get out and about again means the world to me, and we couldn’t have done it without you.”